Steph

I have a very strong memory of those ones at the top as being ones I might have had fun with in the late 1960's or early 1970's. Nevertheless, my ID for them is "modern, Asian, common". Even though some might be vintage, they were still being made well into the modern period and probably are still being made, so that's the ID. No luck trying to ID them by company.

Asian. Supposedly common.

I think that might be a pontil ... possibly with a little bit of finishing done to it? And there is that bit in the first picture would could have been a drizzle but could be a tail. I don't have a guess on which era or country it could have come from, but I'm leaning to some kind of handmade/transitional.

I suspect the top is an Akro milky oxblood. I think the reflections and focus are making the red look almost transparent but it looks like my oxblood pictures used to look like on my old camera.

Can we get more focus on the 2nd view? Try it on a less-textured cloth surface to try to more the focus to the top of the marble. Failing that, focus where the camera wants to focus but then pull back an inch before you click it ... if your camera lets you do that.

Ira Freese did his mechanical tinkering at Akro in the 1920's. Akro corkscrews were introduced in 1930. The Popeye box was introduced around 1936. I think the original Popeye box had a different style marble in it, so I can't be sure when the Popeye as we know it was introduced but it would have been "after freese". A marble having eyelashes doesn't mean "pre-freese". It probably just means the glass shears needed sharpening. Vitros could have some white which you might consider stringy or filamented. But I think at least two of the so-called popeye patches on Alan's page are probably Akros. These two -- I would ID these as Akro if someone posted them without telling where they came from. Joe Street wanted to do a somewhat updated version of Alan's site. I was supposed to help with that. I dropped the ball. I am pretty sure Craig Snider's version of the site is as close to how Alan left it as Craig could make it.

I see that Marblealan.com mentions Vitro popeyes. However, those pages were saved from an old archive. The Marblealan site crashed some years before Alan passed away. Then it was retrieved from the Wayback Machine, I think. Old understandings (and misunderstandings) didn't get updated.

Based on texture I'm still wondering about foreign.

Hi Beth. In my book all "Popeye patches" are Akros. I think ten or more years ago there might have been confusion about it and it might have been thought that some of the marbles we call Popeye patches were Vitros. But as far as I know it is now been settled that Popeye patches are Akros. Here's one example. Popeye on left, Popeye patch on the right ... from the same Akro Popeye box. Some marbles which are called Popeye patches may not have come from the same kind of run as those two marbles came from. I think a lot of what are called Popeye patches came from digging at the Akro factory. I can probably find some more photos. Maybe someone else has some pix though. Are there any you have questions about?

I'm trying to find where I stashed pictures of my most classic bananas. I guess I may have to take new pix.

Yes. Foreign. I don't remember it as a Vacor style so I think Asian. Pretty.

Oy. The top photo looked Marble King to me. At least the one on the right did. The one on the left is very unruly, isn't it. I'm still leaning Marble King. But wait for a second opinion.

Most of those have much too distinct vanes for me to be tempted to call them bananas. Bananas are supposed to be thick ... like bananas. The closer it is to having four separate vanes, the less likely it is I'll call it a banana. The white one in front has such clear base glass, that I think it could turn out to be an American-made marble -- could be either Peltier or Master. And for me, I don't call it a banana unless it's Peltier or Master ... along with being plump. I don't call Asian marbles bananas.

This box which Hansel posted shows how some Peltier bananas can have ridges. And I guess I even see some thin vanes. But as thin as yours? (Also, it's tricky to call them "bananas" anymore when they have distinct vanes, but if they're known Pelts and definitely part of a banana run, then I guess they slide under the wire.) (I'm still thinking foreign on yours, and not "banana".)

Not bananas. Yes, foreign cat's eyes.

The second marble looks more cage-like than the first on my screen. (Is the base glass amber on the second?) The first marble looks like it might be on the way to cage style but I'm not sure if it reaches it.

I'm not seeing Pelt. I _think_ I'm seeing several very thin vanes. Is that right? If so, then I think foreign. The Pelt banana can have vanes or ridges but I expect them to be somewhat plump.

Yes. Save those. They're not rare but I think they might be getting harder to come by.

The Vitro bag looks good though, right? It has that seam in back which we like to see.

That sounds right.

Here ya go.

I think it's a good bag. I almost want to buy it myself .... still looking for that ad. BRB.

Hiya. Even though it doesn't have the seam on the back that folks look for with older bags, it has appropriate marbles. I don't know what exactly the bag should look like in the early 1950's. But those are 1940's Alleys, which Berry Pink used to fill his bags in the early 1950's after he bought the Alley plant and turned it into the Marble King company. But before he developed Marble King's signature style. I'll go look for an ad which might show them.

Also ... just checked ... the Marble King site has 1" and 7/8" cat's eyes listed. I guess I could have checked that first. But I did enjoy taking my pictures.